For a long time, our people saw in the viburnum a symbol of girlish beauty and tenderness, and for the white wreaths of flowers they called it a wedding tree.
The spreading bushes of the Viburnum vulgaris can often be found in gardens. And one of its varieties, known to gardeners under the name «Roseum " or "Buldenezh", is one of the best ornamental shrub plants.
Translated from French "Buldenezh" means "snow globe". And this name was given to the plant for a reason. This viburnum blooms with large flowers, collected in spherical inflorescences, and the whole bush is covered with huge, up to 15-20 cm in diameter, snow-white balls.
Reproduction of viburnum
Reproduction of this viburnum does not cause any particular difficulties. Most often, it is propagated by horizontal layers or cuttings.
Reproduction by layering. It is easy and convenient to propagate selected specimens of this viburnum by layering in the garden. There are no special techniques for this procedure, everything is done in the same way as with black currant.
Layers "Buldenezh" are usually propagated in spring. To do this, the strong annual branches of the viburnum are folded back and pinned into shallow grooves with wooden pins, covered with humus, compacted and watered. When the first shoots appear, they are covered with loose fertile soil several times and constantly kept moist.
To speed up the formation of roots in early July, the trunks of the rooted shoots can be tightened with a ring of soft wire or a thin nylon cord. In autumn, the rooted branches are carefully separated from the mother plant, divided into seedlings and planted for growing on a special bed or in a permanent place. Two years later, in the spring, when there are still no other flowers, the viburnum bush will bloom profusely.
Propagation by green cuttings... By the beginning of July, green cuttings are prepared from the shoots of the current year. Two pairs of buds are left on them, the lower oblique cut is made under one pair of buds, the upper straight - above the other pair. The lower leaves are removed, the area of the upper ones is reduced by half. Then the cuttings with their lower ends (no more than 2 cm) are kept in a solution of a growth stimulator (usually heteroauxin), rinsed with water and planted in a mini-greenhouse.
The soil for the mini-greenhouse is prepared in advance and consists of a mixture of sod land, sand and humus, taken in equal parts, and well mixed. If you plant only 2-3 cuttings, then it is very convenient to use transparent plastic water bottles or even ordinary plastic bags as a mini-greenhouse.
Planting depth of green cuttings is 1.5–2 cm. Immediately after planting, the mini-greenhouse should be slightly shaded from direct sunlight. The soil and air in the greenhouse must be kept constantly moist. Plants grown from green cuttings should be left in this place for the next year, but without shelter.
Read more in the article Green cuttings of woody plants.
Agrotechnics for growing viburnum
Kalina ordinary "Buldenezh" is surprisingly well in harmony in joint plantings with linden, mountain ash. Since it has a long flowering time (25-35 days), it looks great both in group and in single plantings. The viburnum "Buldenezh" is especially effective in standard form and near the water.
Kalina loves wet places. After all, it is not for nothing that Russian folk tales mention "viburnum bridges", i.e. a road through a swampy swamp, covered with bush branches. And the viburnum was almost always at hand. In the conditions of a garden culture, viburnum has adapted to drier soils.
Kalina is relatively shade-tolerant, especially at a young age, but prefers semi-open places. Direct sunlight throughout the day is not entirely desirable. The plant is quite winter-hardy, but in severe winters it can freeze too much, although then it recovers rather quickly.
Planting viburnum "Buldenezh" is best on fertile moisture-absorbing soils.Planting viburnum can be done in spring and autumn. For single-row planting, seedlings can be placed at a distance of 3 meters from each other.
At two-year-old seedlings, by the time of planting in a permanent place, a powerful root system develops. To preserve it and grow healthy plants, planting holes must be made with a diameter of 60 cm and a depth of at least 50 cm, filling them with the top fertile layer of soil. On heavy soils, it is necessary to drain sand and gravel.
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Add 3-4 buckets of compost, 1 glass of nitrophoska and 2 glasses of ash to each pit. Plants are planted 3-4 cm deeper than the root collar. Immediately after planting, the holes are watered abundantly, and when the water is absorbed, they are mulched with peat chips or humus.
Viburnum is very responsive to good care, especially to the application of organic fertilizers. It is necessary to annually apply 1.5–2 buckets of rotted compost under the bush, which will also be mulch at the same time. When digging near-trunk circles in the spring, the compost is embedded in the soil.
Pruning viburnum is not difficult. Immediately after planting, all branches are shortened by one third. Then one young shoot is left annually to have 5-6 main branches by the age of 6, and up to 8-9 branches by the age of 10.
Of the pests, only aphids pose some danger to viburnum. To combat it, you can use a conventional tobacco decoction, in which 40 g of green soap is added per 1 bucket of decoction or modern means to combat sucking pests.
Read also the article Kalina: cultivation, reproduction, pests and diseases.
